1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a wireless communication terminal that is capable of providing a short message service and a method for displaying indicator icons using the same, and more particularly to a wireless communication terminal that is capable of setting indicator icons according to the types of serviceable short messages and displaying one of the set indicator icons corresponding to the type of a received short message to enable a user to more readily identify the received short.
2. Description of the Related Art
With the rapid advance of the communication industry and the rapid growth of mobile communication services, mobile communication terminals (referred to hereinafter as wireless communication terminals) have practically become a necessity of life. In order to meet users' various requests for improved functions, such wireless communication terminals have a variety of functions, in addition to a basic mobile wireless telephony function. Such additional functions may be, for example, a short message service (SMS), an MP3 function, wireless Internet, a camera, a TV, VOD (Video on Demand), etc.
Consequently, the number of users sending and receiving short messages using wireless communication terminals has recently increased rapidly. The short message service has gained considerable popularity among users because its usage fee is much lower than that for a voice call service. Here, the short message service includes a text message service and a voice message service. The text message service is a service used when a sender edits a text and/or image using a wireless communication terminal and/or computer and sends the edited result to a wireless communication terminal of a recipient. The voice message service is a service, which is provided by a base station to transmit a message, sent to a voice mailbox by a sender, to a wireless communication terminal of a recipient.
In general terms, a conventional wireless communication terminal, upon receiving a short message, displays an indicator icon on an icon display area of a screen so that a user can confirm the reception of the short message. However, the conventional wireless communication terminal displays the same indicator icon on the screen irrespective of the type of the received short message. At this time, the displayed indicator icon generally has an “envelope” figure. As a result, it is impossible for the user to identify the type of the received short message only by seeing the indicator icon displayed on the screen.
On the other hand, provided that the conventional wireless communication terminal has an external screen, upon receiving one text message, it can display a part of the contents of the received message on the external screen. However, if a new short message is received under this condition, then the wireless communication terminal displays some of the contents of the received new message on the screen instead of the contents of the message being currently displayed on the screen. For this reason, the user has the inconvenience of having to identify the type of a short message received and stored in a short message inbox by conducting a key operation using menu keys provided in the wireless communication terminal, in order to determine whether the received short message is a text message or voice message.
The conventional wireless communication terminal has a further disadvantage in that it is impossible for the user to recognize the number of short messages received, but not confirmed by himself/herself, and/or short messages newly received in his/her absence through the indicator icon displayed on the screen. For this reason, the user must check the short message inbox using the menu keys in the wireless communication terminal to recognize the number of non-confirmed short messages, or short messages newly received in his/her absence.